And welcome to the first issue of
MechEng News for 2018!
Following our centenary last year, the
excitement is set to stay as the Department
continues to develop the next generation
of mechanical engineers and our research
pushes the boundaries of our field.

06

Engineering Heartspace
Exploring our new home

08

Where are they now?
Pooya Abka

10
11

Let’s get technical!
Meet the Technical Team

12

Railway Challenge
More about the 2018 team

14

Research focus
Fatbergs and Fibre Optics

Colleagues across Mechanical Engineering
have also been involved in some exciting
projects and outreach activities and we’re
pleased to share a selection of them in this
issue too.

15

Funding awarded
This quarter’s grants

So without further ado, let’s get on with
Issue 16…

16

My week with Mechanical
Engineering
Work experience diary

Editor: Amy Grange
Email: a.grange@sheffield.ac.uk

Insigneo Showcase

18 DiscoverySTEM
Outreach and MechEng
20

2018 is also a special year for engineering
as the UK Government launches
#YearofEngineering - a new campaign to
raise awareness of engineering careers and
opportunities. Read more about it and how
to get involved on the next page.

2018 is the #YearofEngineering
Engineering is in the spotlight as the UK
government launches a new campaign to
tackle the engineering skills gap and inspire
the engineers of tomorrow.
A pioneering campaign to transform the way
young people see engineering and boost numbers
entering the profession has been launched.
The Year of Engineering will see ministers join
forces with engineers, industry experts and
businesses to help change perceptions around
engineering – and highlight the opportunities it can
hold for young people.
Engineering is one of the most productive UK
sectors, but there’s a shortfall of 20k engineering
graduates every year. There’s also widespread
misunderstanding of engineering among young
people as well as a lack of diversity.
The Year of Engineering aims to fill those gaps,
changing misconceptions and sharing inspiring
engineering experiences with young people, their
parents and teachers.

Over the course of 2018, Mechanical Engineering
and the wider Faculty of Engineering will be
supporting the campaign by taking a closer look
at engineering - inspiring the next generation of
innovators and problem-solvers.
We’ll be doing this through a number of activities
and events and by exploring some key engineering
themes such solving real life problems, diversity in
engineering, raising aspirations and careers.
You can follow @SheffMechEng @SheffUniEng
for all the latest news on what we are up to!

Get involved!
•

Be part of the conversation and
spread the word on social media using
hashtags: #YoE #takeacloserlook or
#inspireanengineer

•

Send us your stories of engineering
careers and how you got there.

•

Take a look and share resources on the
Year of Engineering website and add
the logo to your email signature to show
support: www.yearofengineering.gov.uk

•

Follow the campaign on Twitter
@YoEgovuk and on Instagram too.

Secretary of State for Transport, Chris
Grayling said:
“We want to show young people and their parents
the immense creativity, opportunity and value of
the profession.
“By bringing them face-to-face with engineering
role models and achievements, we can send a clear
message that engineering careers are a chance
for all young people, regardless of gender, ethnicity
or social background, to shape the future of this
country and have a real impact on the lives of those
around them.”

MechEng News: Issue 16

3

Profile:
Dr Matt Carré

What made you want to become a
mechanical engineer?
None of my family are professional
engineers but my father had many
technical jobs including being a car
mechanic and college lab technician
before finally teaching design technology
at a secondary school.
I was good at maths and science at
school and considered architecture
and civil engineering before my mother
(also a teacher) suggested a mechanical
engineering degree after a conversation
with one of our neighbours.
I went for this as I thought it would give
me more options. Now I’m lucky that I
can combine my passions of engineering
research and educating the next
generation of engineers.

4

Where did you train?

Like many of my colleagues, I’m a product
of the fantastic training from our
Department!
I was in one of the first cohorts of the
MEng Mechanical Engineering programme
(1992-1996) and then studied for a PhD
here (1996-2000).
This was working with the England and
Wales Cricket Board, along with other
researchers, to better understand how to
produce high quality pitches.
My piece of the puzzle looked at how a
cricket ball’s rebound was affected by
natural turf parameters. I produced and
analysed over 15,000 ball impacts but this
didn’t put me off enjoying cricket - I still try
to catch an England Test match every year,
usually at Headingley.

MechEng News: Issue 16

By this point I’d fallen in love with the
city of Sheffield and its surroundings and
settled down with my future wife and
mother to my two boys. Hence we’re still
here!

What are your research interests?
After my PhD, I carried out lots of projects
applying engineering concepts and theory
to problems associated with sport,
such as football aerodynamics, hockey
stick impacts and rugby ball handling. I
soon realised the aspects that appealed
most were how athletes interact with
their equipment and so I helped set up
the Human Interaction Group in the
Department.
We focus on the physical interface
between humans and their immediate
environment (e.g. products, devices and
surfaces) with applications as varied as
healthcare, consumer goods, sport and
assistive living.

What are you working on at the
moment?

All sorts of things! I am currently
supervising PhD studies linked to industry
and I’m also involved in two Knowledge
Transfer projects with a company that
wants to improve its slip-resistant
footwear and develop bespoke additivemanufactured footwear products.
I also work with the English Institute of
Sport who support Team GB Olympics and
Paralympics athletes but that is shrouded

in secrecy and you’ll have to wait until after
Tokyo 2020 for me to reveal any more!
All of this work is built on a foundation
of fundamental engineering science,
understanding the tribology of human
tissue and response to loading, delivered
through research council funded projects.
None of this is done individually and I
collaborate with a host of academics and
researchers in our Department (too many
to try and name-check!), as well as other
universities and organisations.

If there was one Mech Eng
problem you could solve, what
would it be?

The massive challenge of how to cope with
a society that is living longer.
Medical advances have been incredible at
keeping humans alive, but what we need
now are solutions to keep older people
active, comfortable and with reduced pain
– essentially, happy in later life.
I would love to be able to impact on a
small part of that and this is what most
of my current future proposals are based
around.

What words of advice would you
give to your student-self about the
future?
Find something you enjoy doing and make
it your job.

MechEng News: Issue 16

5

Engineering Heartspace: We take a look at the home of
If you’ve taken a stroll around campus
recently, you will have noticed the busy
worksite surrounding the Sir Frederick
Mappin Building and 1885 Central Wing,
Mechanical Engineering’s traditional
base here at the University of Sheffield.
That’s because construction has been
underway on the exciting Engineering
Heartspace, a dynamic social and
research collaboration space set to be
unveiled in 2019.
Designed to future-proof and bring our
beautiful old buildings back to life whilst
creating new collaborative spaces, the
Engineering Heartspace is a big project
for the Faculty with big benefits in mind.

6

As Professor Mike Hounslow,
Vice-President & Head of Faculty
(Engineering) explains:
“First and foremost [the Engineering
Heartspace] is a place where staff and
students can meet and work together...
this will genuinely bring parts of the
Faculty together, it will create a whole of
what has been two separate buildings.”
So what’s happening underneath all
the scaffolding?
The design includes a glazed quadrupleheight atrium that brings the Sir
Frederick Mappin Building and 1885
Central Wing together, with new highly

MechEng News: Issue 16

f Mechanical Engineering and its amazing transformation.
serviced laboratories, workshops and
postgraduate research space.
It will also include office space and
connected social spaces for the Faculty
of Engineering.
When complete, the refurbished
Central Wing will once again be home to
Mechanical Engineering, taking us into
the next 100 years of the Department
â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so as you can guess, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re excited to
move in!
To take a virtual tour around the plans,
visit: www.youtube.com/ShefUniEng

MechEng News: Issue 16

7

Where are they now?
Pooya Abka studied with us from 2009 to 2012, graduating from our
BEng in Mechanical Engineering. He is now based in LA and the CEO
and Co-founder of Idemandu, an AI assistant helping service experts
and clients to connect. He tells us more about his time in Sheffield and
what he has been up to since…

What attracted you to
mechanical engineering?

After graduating from Sheffield
where did you go?

What attracted you to Sheffield?

For me, Sheffield gives you a chance to
focus on the things that matter most
at that stage of your life and career advancing your education, getting to
know yourself and having fun!

My father studied mechanical
engineering, so I was raised with
the idea of becoming a mechanical
engineer myself - when I had the
chance to choose my major, I didn’t
doubt it for a second.

I attended the University of Sheffield
International College and found the city
affordable, the people friendly and the
IC library excellent!

Did you get involved in any clubs
or societies during your studies?
I was an active member of Faculty
Advisory Board representing all
undergraduate engineering students.
8

I moved to London to do my masters
but I’m glad that I chose a smaller city
for my undergraduate studies, Sheffield
was the best decision I ever made.

You’ve recently been profiled by
Forbes about your AI start-up
Idemandu – can you tell us more?
Idemandu is an AI agent that learns and
adapts to your needs over time.
It can understand a customer’s service
needs over voice, connect them to
vetted service providers instantly and
learn about their personal preferences
– it’s a first for the service industry.
We recently partnered up with Google
Assistant to offer our services in
California and we’re super excited

MechEng News: Issue 16

about our upcoming new features and
partnerships!
Pictured: Pooya (l) and Erfan (r)

Sheffield played a significant role in
the creation of Idemandu as I met my
co-founder Erfan Dehghanfar there. He
was doing his masters in Information
Management whilst I was studying
Mechanical Engineering.
We were introduced by some friends
and have been working together ever
since.
Sheffield is a great place to start
building lifelong connections. After
Sheffield, we moved to London and
then to sunny California in 2014.

What piece of advice would you
give to your younger self or a
recent graduate starting off in
their career?

Even though my field is now completely
different to Mechanical Engineering,
I’ve found that my training has given
me a ‘third eye’ to look at problems
from a different angle, which has been
invaluable.

1. Allow yourself to make mistakes.
Take advantage of your limited
responsibilities and be bold.

It is certainly an exciting time for
you – what would you say your
ultimate goal for the future is?

2. Get your hands dirty with work.
Don’t be afraid of building
something you’re passionate about.

Our ultimate goal is to play a part in
shaping the future of consumer AI and
we work hard to achieve that goal.

3. There’s no shortage of honesty,
generosity and kindness in every
corner of this Earth. Don’t make
your mind up about people too
quickly.

Perhaps someday we’ll be acquired or
exit through IPO; I guess we’d be okay
with both!

4. There are 3.8bn people just an
email away. Ask for nothing and you
will receive nothing.

Find out more about Idemandu at www.idemandu.com
MechEng News: Issue 16

9

Let’s get technical!
From intricate small parts to large rigs, the
Technical Team are a go-to resource for
students and academics alike with a
collective experience of over
110 years. They tell us more
about the support and
expertise on offer.

Highly trained and experienced machinists, our
Technical Engineering Team provide support
for the Department’s teaching and research
activities as well as a sounding board for
students working on projects - sharing the
benefit of their experience and best working
practice.
“We have a wealth of experience here within
the team,” says Gareth Barker, Team Leader.
“Many of the technicians have years of practical
experience and skills that students can
access throughout their course and we really
encourage any opportunity for them to work
and liaise with us.
“Even though the majority work more closely
with us as part of their final year projects,
we are here to support and advise students
throughout their time at the University.
“It’s another great way to learn more about
practical manufacturing processes and
considerations such as labour time and costs
– all things that come into play once you’re in
industry.”

10

The team’s top priority is to provide technical
engineering services for students and the
various research and development projects the
University is involved with. These vary, ranging
from entire rigs designed by undergraduates to
small, individual testing samples.
Alongside project work, they also support
student-led activities and recurring cocurricular projects including Formula Racing,
Railway Challenge and Shell Eco-Marathon.
They were also involved in the SunbYte high
altitude telescope project last year.
‘’The Technical Team provides Sheffield
Formula Racing with high quality machining
services. They help us with everything from
welding to CNC machining and without their
continued support we would simply not be able
to hit our manufacturing targets.
“Their accommodating attitude has helped us
out of numerous tight spots over the years,
making them invaluable to the team,” says Ben
Seers, a member of the Sheffield Formula
Student team.

MechEng News: Issue 16

With their main workshop currently based
in the Hicks building, the Technical Team
are looking forward to moving into the new
Engineering Heartspace when it opens in 2019
too.
“It is an interesting time for the team as
we focus on how we can help students and
continually improve our own approaches, such
as project planning, precision capability and
turnaround times.
“We’ve also had the opportunity to work on
some really interesting and innovative projects
over recent months, marrying our experience
and expertise with forward thinking design.
For example, during quieter months we’ve
been able to collaborate with other parts of
the University - from designing and producing
task-specific machines to manufacturing
components for a multi-million pound
telescope!

Upcoming Event:
Insigneo Showcase
2018
The Insigneo Institute for in silico
Medicine’s annual showcase will be
held on 3rd May 2018 at the Octagon
Centre, Sheffield.
This year Insigneo is delighted to
welcome Prof. Dame Pamela Shaw,
Director of the NIHR Biomedical
Research Centre (BRC) as a keynote
speaker alongside a programme
including:
•

Talks covering the full scope
of Insigneo’s research, from
fundamental science to
translation, from clinical
implementation to industrial
development.

•

An Industrial Village showcasing
in silico medicine’s latest
commercial applications and
developments from our industrial
partners.

•

Networking opportunities and
one-to-one’s with funders,
academics and clinicians.

“We’re excited for the future of the team and
continuing to provide that sounding board for
students, their ideas and projects.”

To arrange a visit to the team or to
discuss a project, please contact
Technical Engineering Team Leader,
Gareth Barker on 01142 227868 or email
G.T.Barker@sheffield.ac.uk

For more programme details and
information on how to register
please visit: www.insigneo.org
The event is free of charge.
LtoR: Gareth Barker, David Webster, Joe Milner,
Geoff Hibberd and Matt Kirkland.

MechEng News: Issue 16

11

The locomotives will then be tested
live during a competition weekend in
June at Stapleford Miniature Railway in
Leicestershire, where several categories of
winners and an overall Railway Challenge
champion will be crowned.
Last year, the University of Sheffield came
4th overall, competing and completing in all
10 categories and winning in maintainability.
It’s that time of year again, where students
from Mechanical Engineering are joined by
their counterparts across the engineering
faculty to take part in the Railway Challenge.
Now in its seventh successive year, the
challenge is organised by the Institution
of Mechanical Engineering and provides a
brilliant opportunity for teams to take part in
an industry-specific competition – helping to
develop their skills, expertise, knowledge and
business acumen.
So, what does the challenge involve?
As with previous years, the teams will be
required to design and manufacture a
miniature (10¼” gauge) railway locomotive
in accordance with a set of strict rules and a
detailed technical specification.

Isobel Catt is working on Structures and
Dynamics in the Challenge team alongside
her MEng in Mechanical Engineering studies:
“As a first-year, I’ve found RCAS extremely
welcoming. The more experienced members
are always willing to help and I can learn
from their knowledge and guidance.
“So far, I’ve worked on the suspension and
coupling system, which made me realise how
much more complex it is applying classroom
theory to a real project!”
What will 2018 bring for team Sheffield?
The 25-strong team will again be competing
in all the paper and track challenges
including design reporting, business case,
innovation to industry, traction, energy

RAILWAY CHA
12

MechEng News: Issue 16

storage, noise, ride comfort, maintainability,
reliability and scrutineering - with design and
manufacturing already well on the way.
Sam Blacktop, Team Principle and fourth
year MEng Mechanical Engineering student
tells us more:
“This year we’re really looking forward
to impressing at competition. In keeping
with the spirit of the team, we’ve kept
innovating and come up with a concept
that’s completely new. The new design will
certainly get some funny looks when it is
unveiled!
“Part of this progress has been the use of
Virtual Reality to design the loco. For the
first time, we’ll be hosting a design review
for the University and sponsors, using the VR
cave in the Diamond. We hope this will give a
new perspective on our design and prevent
mistakes, as well as trying a technique which
is becoming more common in industry.”
With eleven teams due to meet and compete
in Leicestershire - some coming from as
far afield as Egypt and Germany – it is
definitely gearing up to be an exciting Railway
Challenge. Good luck to all of the team!

Follow the team and
their progress on Facebook
‘RailwayChallengeAtSheffield’ and
on Twitter @RailChallAtShef

Did you know?
•

The University of Sheffield is the
only competing team that is extracurricular and undergraduates don’t
earn any credits for taking part.

•

Members can join in their first year
as an undergraduate, with many
of the management team in their
second year.

•

This year’s team is 25 strong with
a third of members in their first
year. A third of the team are female
engineers.

•

The team is cross-faculty with
members from mechanical,
materials, aero, chemical and
electrical engineering related
courses.

ALLENGE 2018
MechEng News: Issue 16

13

Research focus: Fatbergs and Fibre Optics
Academics from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Civil and
Structural Engineering have been working with wastewater and systems
experts nuron to develop a dual-purpose fibre sensing technology that provides
an early warning for sewer blockages.
When you think of your broadband provision,
sewers and fatbergs wouldn’t necessarily
spring to mind – but perhaps they should as
both could benefit from a new innovation
involving academics from the University of
Sheffield.
That’s because nuron, wastewater and systems
experts based in London, have developed an
innovative, dual-purpose fibre optic ‘nervous
system’ for sewers, where blockages that could
grow into ‘fatbergs’ are detected early – helping
to avoid costly excavations.
Developed with the support of Professor
Kirill Horoshenkov from the Department of
Mechanical Engineering and Professor Simon
Tait, Department of Civil and Structural
Engineering as part of their involvement in the
University’s Pennine Water Group, this is the
only dual-purpose technology of its kind.
It not only transforms existing sewer and
wastewater monitoring capabilities, but
includes capacity for the integration of
existing sensors and telemetry to create a
comprehensive management network. As it is
based on optical fibres, this new technology
could also enable a more cost effective and
efficient means of broadband roll out.
As Claire Fenwick, Managing Director at
nuron explains:
“Our technology is the only dual-purpose
system enabling real time solutions for the

14

impact of climate change, ageing infrastructure
and urbanisation. It also reduces the cost of
rolling full fibre networks; these are all very
high priorities for the general public, asset
owners, regulators and Government.
“Since our inception, the University of Sheffield
and in particular Prof. Kirill Horoshenkov and
Prof. Simon Tait, have been an instrumental
part of the success of nuron with both
Professors valued members of our team of
technical experts.
“At nuron we do things differently, we continue
to push boundaries in terms of what we
understand and what we can do today. The
University is very much aligned to this way
of thinking, making them a perfect academic
partner.”
As Prof. Horoshenkov and Prof. Tait add:
“Flooding of your house or garden is one of the
worst events that can happen to a householder.
Thousands of people suffer such events each
year in the UK and this is often caused by
blockages in sewers.
“Blockages can occur intermittently and are
very difficult to locate quickly. The technology
developed by nuron allows water companies
to continuously monitor the flows all along
sewer pipes and rapidly identify any developing
blockages, which can then be dealt with
proactively.

MechEng News: Issue 16

Research funding received
Rail Innovation

ARTEMIS V3

DyVirt

STriTuVaD
Digital Twins

“This rapid monitoring system has the
potential to eliminate sewer flooding
caused by blockages and prevent a
negative impact on UK householders.”
To find out more about the Pennine
Water Group, the largest urban
water research group in any UK
University visit www.sheffield.ac.uk/
penninewatergroup

How it works:
nuron technology gives sewer and
wastewater operators the ability to
not only monitor the ‘down manhole’
spot flow provided by current
generation sensors, but for the first
time, continuous ‘in pipe’ condition
and flow too.
By measuring multiple parameters
at the same time, every 5m within a
sewer network, it allows potential
incidents to be rapidly localised,
accurately diagnosed and resolved
- averting customer, public or
environmental impact.

We were pleased to welcome Y10 student Ameerah Khan to the Department as
She is currently studying for her GCSEs and hopes to carry on into further edu

Day 1

Day 3

On Monday morning, I started research
for the poster I will be working on
throughout the week. It is on finger
friction and during my research I came
across some interesting facts.

Back at school for the day!

In the afternoon, me and Julia made our
way to one of the labs in the George
Porter Building where we tested how
strong our grip would be with different
chemicals on our fingers. We used
chemicals such as baby powder, soapy
water and glycerol, which proved to be
the slippiest and making it hard to grip. I
really enjoyed Monday as I got an insight
into working at the University.

Day 2
Tuesday was really interesting as I got
the chance to see University students
at work and how advanced the work is.
I was happy that I was able to give my
input and opinion to the students and
see how I would come up with solutions
if I was working on a project.

16

MechEng News: Issue 16

ngineering

s she undertook her work experience alongside Dr Julia Carrell.
ucation. She tells us more about her week and what she got up to...

Day 4

Day 5

Thursday has been the best day as we
did some amazing stuff and explored
some of the University’s equipment.

On Friday, we spent the morning
completing the poster I had been
working on and applying all the finishing
touches. Towards the end of the day, we
headed to iForge to make a keyring using
a laser cutter. This was fun as iForge is
run by students of the University.

In the morning, we headed to the VR
suite where I was given the opportunity
to use the VR wall. I had to wear special
3D glasses and figures would appear on
the big wall - it felt as if they were real!
I was also able to wear VR glasses that
blocked out the reality and made you
feel as if you were in a different place. I
was in a big robotic-like room and had
a little figure teaching me how to move
blocks around with the VR glasses on - it
was surprising how fun making shapes in
virtual reality is!
Later on, we headed to the machine shop
and I made a homemade screwdriver.
This was really fun, as it was a very
creative and enjoyable activity to do. It
was my favourite part of the week and
really broadened my mind, inspiring
me to consider engineering as a career
choice. Spending time with the engineers
was great and they had a great sense of
humour.

My Week in 3!
Inspiring, fun and an
experience (I’ll never forget!)

“This week has really opened my eyes
to engineering and has made me
consider going down this career path
in the future. I am very grateful to the
University for my work experience
and a very big thank you to Julia
who let me spend the week with her
and all of the effort and time she
gave to make my work experience a
memorable one.”

MechEng News: Issue 16

17

Inspiring the next STEM generation in Sheffield
“Not just fun, super fun!” was the glowing
endorsement of children taking part in a session
with Discovery STEM Education and volunteers
from the University of Sheffield this British
Science Week.
And fun is definitely the objective at Discovery
STEM Education, a not for profit organisation
based at Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield.
Dr Melissa Butt set up the organisation to inspire
the next generation of scientists, technologists,
engineers and mathematicians - a project that the
Department of Mechanical Engineering and our
doctoral training centres IDC Machining Science
and iT-CDT are proud to support.
Through bespoke enrichment days, after school
clubs, holiday clubs and workshops for those
in home education, Discovery STEM Education
brings science, maths, engineering and technology
to life for children right across the city. They also
run practical GCSE science tuition sessions and

surgical skills courses for A level students that
support young people to reach their full potential
in their GCSE’s and University applications.
“Our aim is to engage young people from all
backgrounds in exciting STEM activities and to
open their minds to a variety of careers. We are
very proud to have an equal mix of boys and girls
engaging in our sessions, as well as an ethnic
mix and SEN cohort representative of Sheffield’s
population,” explains Melissa.
“We have a strong belief that role models are
very important to improve engagement in
STEM subjects and the opportunity to work
with enthusiastic engineering colleagues from
the University has clearly inspired many of our
budding engineers over the past few weeks.”
These role models included colleagues
specialising in machining and tribology who joined
the team at Discovery STEM Education to take
part in the experiments and answer the many
insightful questions the children had for them.
“It’s great to welcome colleagues from the
University. They’re great ambassadors for STEM
and opportunities like this help our young people
to explore and understand engineering and how
it is relevant to the world around them,” adds
Amanda Childs, Project Development Manager.
“Today we’ve been working with impact testers
and measuring how much force is needed to
break spaghetti and chocolate – experimenting
with different thicknesses and temperatures to
see how much they’ll take before breaking.
“It’s been messy and fun and the kids have
been inspired to measure, record and analyse
data. They’ve extended their understanding of
experimental protocol because they wanted to
get better data and find a conclusion, rather than
because they were told to”.

18

MechEng News: Issue 16

to see how kids can come out of their shell when
they are inspired by what they are learning and
we’ve had examples of that today.”
Professor Matt Marshall, Director of Recruitment
and Admissions at the Faculty of Engineering
helped to establish the links between the project
and the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
IDC Machining Science and iT-CDT.

Royce Copley who is studying at iT-CDT and has
been taking part in the outreach sessions said:
“I found my time with Discovery STEM Education
very rewarding on a personal level and the groups
I encountered really impressed me with their
approach, understanding and knowledge – with
just a small push in direction, they took off and
created some very cool results and conclusions!

“We’re really proud to support Discovery STEM
Education and their mission to bring STEM to life
for children across the city. By helping children
of all backgrounds to explore and experience
science and engineering, we can inspire and
motivate the next generation – supporting young
people to become the Sheffield engineers,
scientists, technologists and mathematicians who
will shape our future and take on some of the
world’s biggest challenges.”
Here’s to breaking more spaghetti!

Sessions are also playing an important role in
helping children of all backgrounds to engage
with STEM and use it as an opportunity to help
overcome personal hurdles.
“We work with children from a wide range of
backgrounds,” explains Amanda. “The chance to
come here and take part in our activities not only
helps them to learn more about science, maths,
engineering and technology but it can also help
them to develop their confidence and skills such
as problem-solving and teamwork. It is amazing

Images courtesy of Discovery STEM Education

“I hope that the children I met continue with their
energy and enthusiasm and can one day join us in
doing this job for real. I’m right behind the idea of
STEM outreach and especially STEM for girls. In
just a few hours with Discovery STEM Education
I met many talented girls who I hope will keep up
their interest in science and maths and let nothing
and no-one convince them that STEM subjects
aren’t for everyone.”

To find out more about Discovery STEM
Education, visit their website
www.discoverystem.org.uk or follow on
Twitter @Discovery_STEM_ and Facebook
at ‘Discovery STEM Education’.
For more about outreach activity across the
University of Sheffield visit:
www.sheffield.ac.uk/outreach

MechEng News: Issue 16

19

The Final Word.
Celebrating our centenary last year was a welcome reminder of how
far the Department of Mechanical Engineering has come over the past
100 years, continually evolving to be at the forefront of teaching and
research.
It is something I am incredibly honoured to have played a part in
and I certainly admire the passion for innovation and excellence that
emanates across the Department â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whether that be our students, our
academics or our technical and support colleagues.
This year has proven to be just as exciting: we have been busy
commissioning our new Laboratory for Verification and Validation, the
Engineering Heartspace is really starting to take shape and staff and
students are continuing to enjoy using the Diamond and all that it has to
offer.
Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re involved in some leading research and forging relationships with
industry partners that are making a real difference to the world around
us and how we understand it. We also continue to inspire, develop
and encourage the next generation of problem-solvers, leaders and
researchers in mechanical engineering through our varied outreach
activities and quality teaching and learning too.
So hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to the #yearofengineering and the many, many more to come
for Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield.